May 4, 2010

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois had the tying run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth but he was picked off second base and the Illini dropped a 3-2 game to Southern Illinois on Tuesday, splitting the teams' season series for the third-straight year. Casey McMurray went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Brian de la Torriente pitched four shutout innings of relief as the Illini fall to 20-21 on the season.

"That wasn't smart baseball; you can't get picked off in that situation," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "All three of their runs scored off our miscues and we had opportunities to shut that down. We pitched well but we weren't playing smart baseball. The good thing was that we didn't quit. This is a group of guys who will battle."

SIU scored first with a run in the third inning on a two-out RBI double but the Illini got the run back in the bottom half. Shortstop Josh Parr singled up the middle to start the inning and stole second as center fielder Willie Argo struck out. After another out, McMurray smacked a 2-2 pitch into center field to bring home Parr and tie the game 1-1.

In the fourth, Illini starter Matt Milroy struck out SIU DH Tyler Bullock to start the inning, but the strikeout pitch got away from catcher Aaron Johnson and Bullock reached base. He eventually came around to score after a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly brought home another run to put the Salukis up 3-1.

Reliever Brian de la Torriente took over for Milroy in the fifth and gave up consecutive one-out singles to put men on first and second. But Johnson threw out the lead runner on a steal attempt and de la Torriente induced an inning-ending ground ball.

Illinois got a run back in the fifth when second baseman Christian Cummins singled up the middle with two outs and McMurray legged out a base hit to the shortstop. The shortstop's throw to first got away up the right-field line, allowing the runners to advance to second and third, and Cummins scored on a wild pitch to cut SIU's lead to 3-2.

De la Torriente needed only five pitches to retire the Salukis in the sixth and after the Illini went quietly in the bottom half, he struck out the first hitter of the seventh inning. The next hitter tapped one to the left of the mound and de la Torriente threw low to first, allowing the runner to reach second base. But he was able to induce a pair of groundouts to keep SIU off the board.

The Illini looked to tie the game in the seventh when Parr led off the inning by being hit by a pitch, but Argo flew out to right, Parr was caught stealing and Cummins grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

De la Torriente came back out for his fourth inning of work in the eighth and gave up a long fly ball to left that bounced off Pete Cappetta arm, resulting in a two-base error. But de la Torriente struck out the next hitter and coaxed a pair of grounders to Parr to put away the Salukis.

In the top of the ninth, reliever Wes Braun gave up a leadoff double and a fly-out to right moved the runner to third. But Johnson called a pitch-out and picked the runner off third for the second out on a failed squeeze play by SIU. Braun then coaxed another fly-out to right to end the inning.

Pinch hitter Thomas Shelton led off the bottom of the ninth and singled sharply up the middle on a 3-2 count before Davis Hendrickson pinch ran for him. Right fielder Craig Lutes sacrificed him to second and Bill Charvat pinch hit for Cappetta. But before SIU reliever Lee Weld delivered his first pitch to Charvat, he wheeled and picked off Hendrickson at second base for the second out of the inning. Charvat then struck out but the pitch bounced into the plate. SIU catcher Brian Bajer made a good throw to first but first baseman Chris Serritella muffed it, allowing Charvat to reach base. But Parr struck out swinging to end the game and give the Salukis a 3-2 win.

McMurray went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Parr was 1-for-3 with a run and a steal. Cummins also went 1-for-4 with a run scored. De la Torriente pitched four shutout innings, allowing only two hits and not surrendering a walk while striking out two. He needed only 41 pitches and threw 32 of them for strikes (78 percent). Milroy also tied a career high with five strikeouts in four innings of work.

The Illini have a quick turnaround as they host Butler on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. Freshman right-hander Tanner Libby will start for the Orange and Blue.